Done. With the ride. With the recovery. And finally, with the video. Brief explanation for the delay at the beginning.

The Logroll, explained

And, what’s with the logroll at the end of the video? Click here to find out. Watch the video in the bottom left corner. It’s inspired me to push harder, go farther, race for something larger than myself and always be sure to get it on film.

Many thanks again to Chris Kostman and all the volunteers representing Adventurecorps. A spectacular event. Thanks for use of the stills to help fill in the gaps on this video. Thanks to Jeff and Jo for the friendship, advice and drafting on the ride.

See you all again…this Fall? Which, I think is in about 210 days….just enough time for Jim and I to train and blog for the double century ride. We’ll see about that…

(P.S. The people at the TSA are fine individuals.)

Video to come (like you expected anything less…)

First of all, we did it. The whole thing. 105 miles. Cutoff time for “finishing credit” was 10 hours. We rolled in at 9:59:33. I’m not kidding. That was ten fun-filled hours on the bike in 87 degree temps, 20mph headwinds, 22% humidity and sun. Oh, that sun.

And we were the lucky ones. The SAG vans rode by several times with folks who couldn’t finish. One of the race officials said, “yeah, we had a higher than average number of people who DNFd (Did Not Finish).” He attributed it to the headwinds.

I calculated that I consumed about three gallons of fluid throughout the day. That’s one-and-a-half 100 ounce camelbacks + twelve refills of the 20 ounce bottles on the bike. Water, electrolyte supplements, Hammer™ Perpetuem, HEED, Gatorade. And salt. Lots of salt tablets. And salty snacks. “Hey, you gonna eat that pretzel?”

There was a 1600′ climb from -282 ft below sea level to 1,293 above (for you locals, that’s a few hundred feet taller than the ride to Thatcher Park). Over a span of about seven miles. Took 65 minutes to go up (at high noon – and, hey, what happened to that wind?) and only 7 to go down. Wheee. Fingers went numb from the vibration of the pavement while gripping handlebars.

Along the way, we passed Badwater (“Old [Badwater], keep on rollin. Mississippi moon, won’t you keep on shinin on me…”) Try NOT singing this along the way. I dare you. (joke (c) 2008, Jim Darling). Ashford Mills (another rest stop) and turned at the top of Jubilee Pass. Which, is not named after the Friendly’s Jubilee Roll ice cream cake. I asked. I was delirious.

So that’s it for now. Stay tuned for the highlight video and then, my friends, this little project is done. Hope you enjoyed watching. I know I had a lot of fun making it.

I will leave you, for now, with this one last thought that echoed in my mind for 105 miles. It’s a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s Wind, Sand, and Stars. It was shared with me by Adventurecorps, the (excellent) company that managed this event.

“But you, by the grace of an ordeal in the night which stripped you of all that was not intrinsic, you discovered a mysterious creature born of yourself. Great was this creature, and never shall you forget him.”

I certainly won’t.

Dozens of workouts. Hundreds of hours of training. Thousands of miles. Year after year. All made possible thanks to one loving and very supportive family. Thank you Kelly, Chloe and Harris for all of your encouragement and patience. I love you so much.

Dad

Here’s a list of things that are on my mind tonight:

1) Should I deflate my bike’s tires or will they explode from overpressurization in the cargo hold on the plane? When you think of it that way, I’m kinda glad I never went through with that implant surgery.

2) They revised the weather forecast for Saturday. The daytime high will be 87 degrees. And sunny. And dry. Just…like…they…said…it…would…be. It really is a desert. Hm.

3) Do they make a sunblock higher than 50?

4) When they say not to take more than three Aleve in a 24-hour period, that’s just legal mumbo jumbo, right?

5) How will I get past the slot machines at the airport?

6) Finally, how the hell did Robbie Carrico make it past the first round on this season’s American Idol? PLEASE text “douchebag” to 5706.

OK, a bit adolescent. I know. I don’t even drink, myself. But if you’re REALLY bored…

Everything’s coming to a head – training, work, pre-trip planning, etc. The result? No posts. Sorry. The other result is something called, “overtraining syndrome.” My knees are effing killing me. Both Jim and I have been fighting colds this past week. And will Southwest Airlines take my bike travel case or what?! In a bit of a mood. Sorry, kids. (No, I mean MY kids. I’ve been grumpy.) BUT, the good news…we’re also in the taper phase. So, things are calming down a bit. Just in time because we only have…

10 days left.

Might have time in the next week for a few quick posts. Maybe not. But this entire blog will culminate in a cool highlight video of the event. (I smell an Emmy!) Aw, but that also means this whole thing will be ending soon. Darn. Maybe a 140.6 days to 140.6 miles (but that’ll have to wait until NEXT summer cuz I got shut out of 2008).

It’s been great having you along. See you soon -

Kids are off for President’s week. Good times.

I saw this on my ride last weekend.

I passed it at first, but quickly doubled back to take a closer look. It’s a memorial to David Ryan, a local cyclist who was killed while riding a few miles from my home. I remember hearing about it when it happened, but to see this while you’re cycling really, well…you can imagine what a powerful reminder that is. I assumed this was a unique gesture from a friend or family member. I was wrong.

Turns out, this is called a “ghost bike.”

Ghost Bikes are “small and somber memorials for bicyclists who are killed or hit on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign near the crash site, accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists’ right to safe travel.”

Unfortunately, there are hundreds of ghost bikes around the world. And three others in my hometown.

Visit the ghostbike web site to learn more. Click here.

And, please, drive safe. Thanks.